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CHAPTER
TWO In
chapters 2
and 3 we see John as he is permitted
to look forward through the centuries of this church age. He was not
only
permitted to see the conditions that would prevail in the churches
during these
hundreds of years, he was commanded to write these things in a book
that we
might have this prophecy. Let us remember this book is not an
historical book.
Our Lord calls it a book of prophecy and I dare not deal with it in any
other
way. I have no intention, however, of parroting anyone in dealing with
these
churches which we have before us. My whole desire is that I may lean
heavily
upon the leadership of the Holy Spirit for only in that way will my
Lord be
satisfied with what I have to say concerning His churches that are so
dear to
Him, Ephesians 5:25. Certainly the names of these
churches are
significant, and the meaning of these names should help us to
understand the
prophecy connected with them. EPHESUS
The
first letter is addressed to the church at
Ephesus, and the name Ephesus means “beloved,” or “desired”. Most
assuredly the
first church age in which our Lord and His apostles labored was greatly
loved,
and much desired. Some say the Ephesus church age covered the first
century,
but let us say it takes in that period of time in which the churches
were
suffering at the hand of the Jew’s religion. The persecution by Saul of
Tarsus
is a good example of what I mean.
We
see in verses 2-3 that our Lord knows
what goes on in His churches. How this should bear upon our conduct in
His
churches. In verse 4 He accuses them
of having left their first love. The fact that the saints who had
walked and
talked with the apostles, and some of them with our Lord Himself had
left their
first love should give us some idea of the power of the claims which
this old
wicked world lays upon our devotion. When we are first born into God’s
family
we feel that we will never allow anything, or anybody to come between
us and
our precious Lord, but so soon we find that we are human. How consoling
it is
to know that He remembers that we are dust. SMYRNA
Beginning
with verse 8 we have the letter that was written to
the church at Smyrna. The
word “Smyrna” means myrrh, and myrrh is a substance obtained from the
stems of
Commiphora Abyssinica, a tree that grows in the desert lands of Arabia
and
Abyssinia. This myrrh was used by the ancients as a perfume in the
embalming of
the dead. We are told that the more this substance was beaten and
crushed the
sweeter the fragrance. And certainly the beating and the crushing at
the hands
of Rome (first political Rome and later religious Rome) caused the
Smyrna
churches to send up a sweet smelling savor to our Lord. The Ephesus
type
churches merged into the Smyrna type churches, but let us remember that
the
Smyrna type churches did not merge into the Pergamos type churches.
Rather the
Smyrna type churches represents the suffering, true churches of our
Lord from
the time His churches were forced to withdraw fellowship from the
apostate
Pergamos type churches until Rome was forced to let up on her
persecution by
world opinion. This was one of the fruits of the so-called reformation.
This
persecution by Rome had already begun when
the Book of Revelation was written.
John was an exile on the isle of Patmos at the hand of Rome at that
time. The
Smyrna type churches suffered the most ruthless and heartless
persecution
during the “dark ages” at the hand of the Thyatira Church that this old
world
has ever witnessed. Thousands, yea millions of our Lord’s saints who
were
members of the Smyrna type churches were beheaded, burned at the stake,
thrown
to hungry lions, or buried alive by the Thyatira (Roman Catholic)
Church. In
1550 A. D. this monstrosity passed a law which said that if anyone was
accused
of being a heretic (all members of the Smyrna type churches were
heretics in
her eye) and refused to confess, that person was to be burned at the
stake, but
if they did confess it was different. If it was a man who confessed to
being a
heretic, he was beheaded, but in the case of a woman they were more
lenient.
They just buried her alive. For us to say that all churches during the
“dark
ages” were Thyatira Churches would be to have Thyatira killing Thyatira
which
would make us rather inconsistent. The Catholic Church admits that she
killed
so many heretics in Spain that the number could not be calculated,
Catholic
Encyclopedia volume 8, and page 37. While Thyatira has always been, and
will
always be a bloodthirsty monstrosity, the true churches of our Lord
have never
had the least desire to kill those who refuse to believe the great
truths which
have been committed unto them. We pity the religionist, and would do
anything
in our power to get the truth of the gospel of grace over to him, but
we would
never touch a hair of his head in judgment upon him. Our Lord has not
committed
that type of judgment to His churches as yet. Since Thyatira has ever
been a
murderous thing, there was never a time when all the churches were
Thyatira
Churches. Therefore, we contend that Smyrna type churches existed all
through
the “dark ages” and that they blended into the Philadelphia type
churches of
modern times.
In
verse 9
our Lord says, “I know
thy works,
and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich).”
Here we have a seeming contradiction, but
there is no such thing as a contradiction in the precious Word. He says
He
knows their poverty and then assures them that they are rich. Someone
may say,
how could both be true? In this world’s goods, and as the world reckons
wealth,
they were paupers. They had to hide in the dens and caves of the
mountains for
fear of the great monster, Thyatira. You see these seven churches
represent the
whole of Christendom, not just true Christianity. But in spite of all
the
material poverty of the Smyrna type churches they were millionaires in
the
Spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Should the Fords and the
Rockefellers
offer me their combined wealth in exchange for my resources in the Bank
of
Heaven, I would laugh in their faces. Then our Lord went on to say that
He knew
of those among the Smyrna churches who claimed to be Jews, that is,
Spiritual
Jews, or saints and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. I am
fully
convinced that we see here the beginning of the Pergamos Church which
later
developed into the Thyatira Church. The Smyrna churches were forced to
withdraw
fellowship from some of the churches because of their heretical
teaching and
practices. This first division, or split in the churches took place in
251
A.D., and I believe these heretical churches were the synagogues of
Satan to
our Lord.
How
comforting it is to hear Him saying, “Fear none of
those things which thou
shalt suffer.” These are,
no doubt, the words that gave the saints in the Smyrna churches the
strength to
face the axe-man, the fireman, the hungry lions, or the open grave in
such a
way as to astonish the old monster, Thyatira. And then how precious it
is to
hear Him say, “Be thou faithful unto death (that
is, though it cause your death), and I will give thee a
crown of life.” The crown of
life is not eternal life any more than queen Elizabeth’s crown is the
queen.
The crown is something extra that goes with being queen. Our crown of
life is
the reward a saint will get for being faithful even though that
faithfulness
may cause his death. Too many people are trying to work for a reward
instead of
being faithful for one. His saying, “He
that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death” is
another
way of saying that those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God shall
never
suffer hell.
PERGAMOS
What
a striking change in the tone and tenor of
our Lord’s words when He comes to His letter to the Pergamos Church. In
His
letter to the church at Ephesus He is the one who holds the pastors in
His
right hand (the place of power and honor), and the One who walks in the
midst
of His churches. In His Smyrna letter He is the One who was dead but is
now
alive. How comforting and precious are those salutations. But to the
church at
Pergamos He is the One who has, or the one who is wielding the sharp,
double-edged sword. There is no comfort in this salutation. This
striking
change was brought on by the striking change in the tenor of the church
itself. THYATIRA
As
we approach the letter to Thyatira we are
immediately confronted with the blunt statement “These
things saith the Son of God.” There is most
certainly a need for our Lord to tell this church
in no uncertain terms that He is the Son of God. We have already said
that the
Pergamos churches were the ones from which the true churches were
forced to
withdraw fellowship because of their heretical teaching and practices.
We also
said that the Pergamos churches might be considered the Thyatira
(Catholic)
Church in embryo. But in another sense we might very well consider the
Thyatira
Church as a child, or offspring of the union of the Pergamos Church and
the
political world. We might say that the church that is prophetically set
forth
in the letter to Thyatira came into being with absolutely no conception
of
Jesus being the Son of God. Neither does she yet have any conception of
it. A
little serious study on the matter should readily convince any fair
minded
student of history that the Mary and Jesus that Catholics hold so dear
are none
other than Semiramis, the original mythical queen of heaven, and her
son who
were brought over from Babylonian Mysticism and given Christian names.
Then
since their Jesus is not the Jesus of Nazareth who was, and is in very
truth,
the Son of God, it was needful that this church be told bluntly
that the
writer of this letter is the Son of God.
“His
eyes like unto
a flame of fire” tells
us that He sees
through all their mysterious doings. The Catholic people are held in
awe by the
mystic rites and ceremonies of their church. They have no idea that
“Pontifex
Maximus” the formal title of their pope was a formal title of the chief
priest
in the Babylonian Mysticism. They have no idea that their pope whom
they almost
reverence as God is nothing more than the chief priest of this
Babylonian
Mysticism. They have no idea that their church admits behind their
backs that what
is taught and practiced in their church is contrary to the Bible. (See “The Death Of The Pope And What He Has
Learned” by John R. Gilpin, page 22.) They have no idea of all
these
things, but our Lord sees through it all.
“His feet are like fine brass.” Brass
in Scripture speaks of judgment. So He not
only sees through all their mystic doings, but He will, in due time,
judge it.
Our Lord gives this church credit for her charitable works. We must
admit that
Catholics do much charitable work. Others throw it up to us Baptists,
and
justly so, that Catholics are more reverent in their place of worship
than we
are. We should hang our head in shame at the very thought of it.
Beginning
with verse 20 our Lord lays bare the evil that is
found in this church. First,
she, “suffers that woman Jezebel
which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce.” There are different theories as to
who Jezebel is, but this is one thing that seems to be as clear as the
noonday
sun. The Catholic Church says openly that she alone has the right and
the
authority to interpret the Scriptures. I am unable to see how anyone
can fail
to see that this “Jezebel which calleth
herself a prophetess” is none other than the Catholic Church which
says no
one but her can interpret the Scriptures. They are one and the same.
Old
Jezebel is the woman who hid the leaven in the meal in Matthew 13:33.
She is the old whore sitting upon (dictating to) the scarlet colored
beast in Revelation
17:3 and she is the old whore who is to be utterly destroyed in Revelation
17:16.
In
verse 23
her children are to be killed with death. The Catholic Church calls the
members
of her church her children, but this is a misnomer since her members
are always
an integral part of the church. A child is born out of the mother and
becomes a
separate, independent creature, and is no longer an integral part of
the
mother. In Revelation 17:5 this old whore is spoken of as the
mother of
harlots. So it is only logical to say that the children who are to be
killed
with death are the churches that have come out of her and have become
separate
from her and independent of her. Verse 24
seems to indicate that there was a time when there were at least a few
true
saints in this church who did not hold to the false doctrine of the
church. It
is hard to see how that could be today, however. They certainly could
not
openly refuse to hold the church’s doctrine and remain a part of her in
our
day.
As
the name Pergamos means exalted through
marriage, so the name Thyatira means a continual sacrifice. The
Catholic Church
knows absolutely nothing about the Son of God’s once for all sacrifice
of
Himself on the Cross of Calvary. She knows nothing of the sufficiency
of that
sacrifice. So she sacrifices her Jesus daily. In fact, their Jesus is
being
butchered every hour of the day somewhere around the globe as the
priests
celebrate their Mass. Are you not glad that our Jesus, the Lord of
glory, has
been raised from the dead and has been set at the right hand of the
Father, and
that He is alive forever more? It is someone else whom the Catholics
sacrifice
continually, thanks to our God.
As
we study the letter to the Thyatira Church
let us not lose sight of two very important facts relative to this
church age.
One is that our Lord’s true churches have been in existence at all
times since
His earthly ministry, and they will continue to be in existence until I
Thessalonians 4:16-17.
To say that the true church was embodied in the Catholic Church for
hundreds of
years is pure unmitigated blasphemy. The other fact to be remembered is
that
the other fellow’s churches have come about by gradual development. The
Catholic Church claims she has not changed in all the centuries of her
existence, but history proves her a liar. For instance, the worship of
Mary had
its beginning as a church dogma in 451 A.D., even before this false
church
became Catholic (universal) which she did in 606 A.D. when Phocas, the
cutthroat Roman Emperor, appointed Boniface III the universal bishop of
all
Christendom. But, after she assumed her catholic, or universal status
she has
continually added one dogma after another. In the sixth century it was
indulgences. But, since these indulgences did not sell too well without
a
purgatory, the Catholic Church invented a purgatory in the seventh
century.
Then in order to make their church a more lucrative business, she
invented
saint and image worship in the eighth century. Now Catholics could
worship
their idols to their hearts content. With this dogma Jezebel had a
field day
seducing unsuspecting people to commit Spiritual fornication. Her field
day is
still going strong. In the twelfth century this heinous Jezebel (false
religious system) not being content with her Spiritual fornication,
invented
celibacy and went into the physical fornication business in a big way.
Now the
beautiful young women who were being enticed to become nuns were not
permitted
to marry and live normal lives. The priests were not permitted to marry
and
live normally. Old Jezebel brought them together and nature took its
course.
When once all moral and Spiritual restraint has been cast to the wind,
the
fleshly lust knows no limitation. So in the next century Jezebel came
up with
another monstrous invention. This time it was auricular confession. By
means of
this all faithful Catholics must come to the appropriate place, that
is, for
the priest, and confess all their sins to him. In this way not only the
nuns,
but all the desirable women in his church are brought into the
unscrupulous
grasp of this insatiable monster. Should some young woman whom he
desires
attempt to defend her character, she soon learns to her dismay that she
may
have already unwittingly given him all the information he needs with
which to
black mail her from now on. This he readily threatens to do, not with a
clear
conscience, but without a conscience. If you find it hard to believe
this, read
“Fifty Years In The Church of Rome”
by Charles Chiniquy, or some of the writings by other men who have come
out of
the Catholic Church.
The
pope loves to boast of his antiquity. He
boasts of being successor to Peter, but since Peter was not in the
pope’s line
of descent there is no connection at all whatever between them. If he
were not
afraid for his people to know it, he could rightfully claim to be a
successor
to old Nimrod, the great grandson of Noah, who along with his followers
really
said, “Come, let us make us a way to God.” This new way to God known as
Babylonian Mysticism wears the name “church” in this age in order to
fool more
people.
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